Manufacture of complex shape parts by high-speed electromagnetic hydraulic forming method

Hydroforming (HF) can precisely control the shape of complex parts and has been widely used in the automotive and aviation fields. However, HF as a low-strain rate process is not conducive to improve the plastic deformation property of materials. Electromagnetic forming (EMF) is a high-speed forming method and can significantly increase the material-forming limit, but possesses poor shape-control ability for complex parts with intricate shapes and curves. In this study, electromagnetic hydraulic forming (EMHF) process was proposed, and the dynamic deformation behaviors of 5052-O aluminum alloy sheet during EMF and EMHF were reported. Compared with EMF, during EMHF the sheet was more closely bonded to the die, and the forming accuracy was higher. Numerical simulation results show that the maximum deformation velocity and the maximum equivalent plastic strain rate of the 5052-O sheet are 93.4 m s −1 and 7329.6 s −1 , respectively. The EMHF process can be categorized as a high-strain rate forming method. For EMHF process, the sheet metal with a rounded angle error of 0.3 mm could be obtained. Therefore, EMHF process can improve the plastic deformation capacity of the material and exhibits high forming accuracy.